“I’m sorry,” Queen Cassia murmured. “I am truly sorry.”
I slid down the bars, coming to my knees, my heart shattering into pieces. Vivi was gone. She was gone, and I was the one who caused it. Agony and grief consumed me as I collapsed onto the grimy floor, sobbing. The shackles around my heart loosened, Ambrose’s command fully fulfilled, making me cry harder. Memories of Vivi smiling and laughing, of the care and tenderness she’d shown me, crashed over me, wrenching a broken wail from my lips. Though I had known her for a short time, she felt so much like a mother to me, a friend who helped me learn to control the chaotic magic inside of me. And now she was gone.
“So, you knew the rebel?”
Ambrose’s voice rang out from the darkness, and my body went cold. My head whipped in his direction, my stomach dropping when I saw him dragging a bloodied Hale behind him.
“Well,” he exhaled, his eyes shining with a dangerous gleam, “this is very surprising. Finding two traitors in one day. It makes me wonder who else could be sneaking around, hiding such vital secrets. Would you like to go ahead and tell me, my darling Sybil, or shall I pry it out of you?”
My face twisted in rage, and I latched onto the bars, snarling. “You won’t get a fucking thing from me.”
Ambrose laughed, the look on his face becoming more crazed as he stepped closer, Hale groaning in pain from the movement. “We’ll see about that, won’t we?”
Ambrose took out the key to the door, and I shuffled back to the far side of the cell, keeping as far away from him as I could. Ambrose clucked his tongue and flicked his wrist, letting hismagic free. In the blink of an eye, ice ran up the walls and along the floor, climbing up my body to my elbows. I was frozen to the floor, unable to move as Ambrose finally stepped inside. My power pulsed under my skin, my light beginning to hum when Ambrose narrowed his eyes at me.
“Now, darling Sybil, you know better than that,” he said, crouching down beside Hale. His magic thrummed, a dagger made of ice forming slowly in his hand. “I command you not to use your magic.” Pointing the sharpened point toward me, he continued, “I’m going to give you one more chance. Just one tiny chance to tell me the truth. Are you part of the rebellion?”
“Fuck you,” I spat, my nose curling into a snarl.
Ambrose’s lips dipped in a frown. “Wrong answer.” Ambrose shoved his knife into Hale’s stomach, and I screamed, watching in horror as blood poured to the stones below. Hale grunted, hissing at the wound when Ambrose turned his head toward him. “And what about you? Why were you caught helping rebels leave the palace?”
“I wasn’t helping them,” Hale rasped. “I was trying to find Evander when I ran into them and hid from them to survive.”
“Now, we all know that is a lie,” Ambrose growled, tugging Hale’s head back. “You were seen opening a door for them. Where does that door lead?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hale croaked. “There was no door; it was just an empty hallway.”
Ambrose released a tight exhale, his gaze sliding to me. “Is he part of the rebellion?”
“Why would I know that? I’ve only seen him once or twice around the palace,” I lied, keeping my face carefully blank.
Ambrose’s eyes went glassy for a heartbeat before a low growl tore from his chest. “Tell me the truth,” he snarled, the words ripping out of him as his breath came fast and ragged. “How long have you been conspiring together? Huh? How longhave you been working against me—waiting for the moment I let my guard down so you could drive the knife into my back?” He surged forward, his rage spilling over. "Tell me!"
“You’re spiraling, Ambrose,” I shot back. “That voice is driving you mad. No one here is working with the rebellion or conspiring against you. We’re your fucking servants, for god's sake. How could we be part of the rebellion? Where would we have gone to have that opportunity? If you would calm down for a moment, you would see how you’re making up nonsense from nothing.”
The air in the cell turned frigid, the silence stretching tight. Ambrose stared at me, his face twisting in pure, unfiltered fury as his chest started rising and falling rapidly. Ambrose bellowed, his voice thundering, blasting through the dungeon. His body twisted toward Hale, shoving his dagger into Hale’s chest and stomach repeatedly; Hale’s screaming rang throughout the cell, the sound full of anguish.
I tried to move; I tried to cry out, to stop Ambrose from his madness, to hold his attention long enough to stop the mindless attack. Queen Cassia yelled out to Ambrose. His hand stopped in midair, his head whipping in her direction with a snarl. Hale wheezed out a breath, our eyes meeting as horror washed over me.
Ambrose stood, letting Hale fall to the floor. He walked to where I sat, frozen by his magic, squatting as he tilted his head to meet my wide, terrified eyes. “I’m going to ask you one more time,” he said, his voice rough. “How did you know that rebel bitch?”
“I-I didn’t know her,” I stuttered, fear coiling around me. The words felt thick on my tongue at the lie.
Ambrose breathed a laugh, his chin falling to his chest before raising it again. “I command you to tell me the truth. How do you know her? Areyou part of the rebellion?” The commandwrapped tight around my heart, and I whimpered. “Answer me, Sybil. I command you to answer me!”
“I’m not a part of the rebellion,” I yelled, my voice cracking on the last word as agony splintered down my body.
Ambrose laughed at my pain, laughed at how blood began dripping from my nose and mouth while he watched me struggle against the ice and his command. The sound grated on my ears, only to be drowned out by my wailing.
Growing annoyed with watching me resist his command, Ambrose harshly grasped my face, forcing me to meet his glare. “I know you’re lying, Sybil. The bargain knows you’re lying. You might as well tell me the truth, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be lenient.”
“Fuck. You.” I spat onto his face, sneering as I watched the mix of blood and saliva drip down his cheek.
“Have it your way, then,” he growled, letting his hand drop. “You can go ahead and die along with that traitor.”
Ambrose stood and left the cell, snarling something to the queen, but my blood pounded in my ears. I cried as agony ripped through my body, still frozen to the floor.
A broken, weak voice called my name, and I looked up, finding Hale staring back. There was a deep sadness in his gaze, tears falling down his face. “Survive this,” he choked out before his eyes slowly closed.
